THEimagine being able to see, looking through a small window of only 10×12 cm, a distant world, probably unknown to you, like that of a refugee camp in a remote place. All through the creative lenses of art and imagination. AND Out of Place. Art and stories from refugee camps around the world, the exhibition at Luigi Rovati Foundation of Milanaccessible from tomorrow. Through 284 mini works by 264 refugee artistswe find ourselves enraptured by as many stories of lives that are not ours.
Out of Placeedited by Imago Mundi Foundation with the support of UNHCRover the last three years has selected the artists and collected these small paintings coming from eighteen of the largest refugee camps currently in existenceas well as other areas marked by migratory flows. Two hundred and eighty-four personal stories that talk about life, exile, global migration crisis. But also of hope, witnesses of how theartistic expression remains a vital resource for human identity even in conditions of extreme precariousness and uprooting.
This exhibition, completely free and open to all, matches the celebration for the 75th anniversary of the Geneva Conventionand wants to promote one more inclusive and dignified vision for the millions of individuals forced to abandon their homeland.
The artists of Out of Place
Curated by Irina Ungureanu, Claudio Scoretti and Aman Mojadidithis exhibition went looking artists from the four corners of the planetpeople united by a present or a past in a “non-place”, that is, one of the 18 largest refugee camps in the world, from South America to Africa, from Europe to the East. To identify and involve artists present in refugee camps, i curators have put in place a network of local collaborations, relying on operators and people active within the communities, with profound knowledge of the area and equipped with the freedom of movement necessary to come into contact with the protagonists of the project. Many artists have been tracked through social mediademonstrating how digital tools are now able to overcome geographical and logistical barriers that until a few years ago seemed insurmountable. In parallel, dedicated workshops and laboratories have been organized in various contexts, designed to encourage participation and the discovery of new creative voices, as in refugee camp in Rwanda with the support of UNHCR. Finally, the research was also nourished by the wealth of relationships, data and contacts built over time through previous projects carried out in the various countries involved.
Some of the works on display. (Photo Daniele Portanome for the Luigi Rovati Foundation)
The curators’ objective was not only to select aesthetically relevant works, but to collect the testimonies of those who live or have lived the reality of the camps to create a “map of the world” told through the eyes of the most vulnerable.
Why this exhibition is important
For Giovanna Forlanelli, president of the Luigi Rovati Foundation, Out of Place it is a more current and important exhibition than ever, given the dramatic geopolitical context we are experiencing. «It is a fundamental piece of the program that in 2026 we dedicate to the themes of inclusion and social cooperation», he explained, also underlining his personal involvement as Special Friend of the UNHCR, and «offers visibility to creatives who would otherwise remain invisible».
«We are used to focusing on the crises that affect us closest, while millions of people have been living for years in refugee camps far from our eyes and we often know nothing about their stories.” For a foundation deeply linked to archaeology, Out of Place also recalls a historical truth: «The civilizations that have built our culture have always been the result of migrations, encounters and contaminations» explained Forlanelli, «offering the citizens of Milan the possibility of dealing with the reality of forced displacement for free through the gaze and self-representation of artists means making culture a tool for knowledge, dialogue and participation».
(Photo Daniele Portanome for the Luigi Rovati Foundation)
For the curator Irina Ungureanuthe title Out of Place contains the deepest meaning of the entire project. «We borrowed the title from ‘s memoir of the same name Edward Said», he says, referring to the Palestinian writer and art critic who lived the experience of exile firsthand. But the reference is not only biographical. «In his book Said not only talks about the condition of the refugee between Egypt and the United States: above all he talks about the ability to transform a situation of vulnerability into an extraordinary creative resource». It is precisely this idea of transfiguration that the exhibition intends to highlight, showing how art can become a tool to overcome precariousness, uprootedness and marginality. The expression “out of place”, explains Ungureanu, refers to the condition of those who are forced to leave their homeland and deal with unknown places, cultures and landscapes. “Said used these words to describe the sense of dislocation experienced by refugees and exiles.”
The exhibition, however, wants to go beyond this definition. «The objective is to offer artists the possibility of self-representation», underlines the curator. «It is a fundamental first step for stop being identified only as people “out of place” and return to being recognized for who they are: authors, creators, individuals with their own voice and their own vision of the world.”
Refugees today
«Today in the world there are 117 million people fleeing conflict and persecution: if they all lived in the same place, they would constitute one of the largest countries on the planet”, he recalled Giovanna di Berni of UNHCRthanking the Luigi Rovati Foundation for hosting one of the two main Italian events dedicated to World Refugee Day on 20 June. Di Berni also recalled that contrary to what is thought: «70% of refugees do not reach the North of the world, but remain close to home, welcomed by countries that are often poor or very poor».
The exhibition, according to the UNHCR representative, «allows us to look at refugees not as numbers, but as people who produce art and tell their experience with their own voice». A message that takes on even more urgency light of the humanitarian funding crisis: “In 2025 the overall aid budget has almost halved, while conflicts continue to increase.”
The work of the Sahrawi artist Menina Alkhell was chosen for the cover of the exhibition catalogue. On the canvas the artist embroiders the shape of a tent, symbol of the house built by Saharawi women with the materials of their own clothes upon arrival in the refugee camps. (Photo Daniele Portanome for the Luigi Rovati Foundation)
The Imago Mundi project
For the Imago Mundi Foundation, Out of Place represents a significant stage in a journey that began fifteen years ago with the construction of a collection that today gathers together 26,000 works in 10×12 centimeter format from over 160 countries. As explained by program manager Chiara Londi, however, the project marks a change of perspective compared to previous research: «For the first time we do not start from a territory or a nation, but from a condition». In fact, at the center there is not a geographical place, but rather the experience of those who live in refugee camps or face forced migration paths, from Ukraine to Central and South America. The objective, Londi underlined, is to go beyond bureaucratic definitions and restore centrality to people: «The word “refugee” is fundamental because it guarantees protection and rights, but it also risks becoming a label that flattens individual identities». Hence the choice to entrust artists with the opportunity to tell their story through their work.
The meeting
The Out of Place exhibition will be inaugurated in Milan with the meeting “Voci out of place”, scheduled for Tuesday 16 June at 6pm in the spaces of the Luigi Rovati Foundation, in Corso Venezia 52. The appointment will see the director and Special Friend of the UNHCR Daniele Abbado with Venanzio Postiglione, deputy director of Corriere della Serain a conversation dedicated to the themes of exile, identity and self-representation that run through the exhibition project. The meeting marks the official launch of the exhibition, which will open to the public from 17 June and will remain open to visitors until 19 July 2026.
Although the exhibition is completely free one donation to UNHCR work it is more important and useful than ever.